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Highgate Cemetery was opened by the London Cemetery Company in 1839, one of the 7 cemeteries created when it was necessary to alleviate crowded metropolitan burial grounds. The land had once belonged to the Ashurst Estate. The cemetery was laid out with serpentine roads and paths, and formally planted with specimen trees, shrubs and flowerbeds. With its park-like setting it was soon popular as a place to visit as well as a burial place. As a result the Company purchased land for an extension and the East Cemetery was opened in 1856; it is here that Karl Marx is buried. The two parts are divided by Swain's Lane with a passage beneath the road for conveyance of coffins from the chapel. The cemetery deteriorated after WWII and was closed in 1975. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery, formed that year, raised money to purchase the land in 1981 and continue to look after the cemetery. The cemetery is owned by a Cemetery Trust

The information shown above was correct at the time of the last update 22/10/2009
Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.highgate-cemetery.org

Fuller information:

Site on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, for Register Entry see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list

Highgate Cemetery was opened as the Cemetery of St James at Highgate by the London Cemetery Company in 1839 when it was necessary to alleviate crowded metropolitan cemeteries and churchyards. As a result an Act of Parliament was passed that led to the creation of 7 private cemeteries: Kensal Green (1833), West Norwood (1836), Highgate (1839), Abney Park (1840), Brompton (1840), Nunhead (1840) and Tower Hamlets (1841) (q.q.v.). A second Act created The London Cemetery Company in 1836 whose founder, architect and civil engineer Stephen Geary, also established Nunhead Cemetery in the south. A 17 acre site was purchased for just over £3500 that had been part of the grounds of Ashurst Manor, once belonging to Sir William Ashurst, Lord Mayor of London in 1693, although by this time Ashurst House had been replaced by St Michael's Church. The land sloped down steeply from Highgate Village. The design of the cemetery was by Geary working with James Bunstone Bunning as architects for the Company from 1839. Built features included entrance gates and two Tudor-style chapels, a Colonnade on the west side of the entrance forecourt, the Lebanon Circle approached along the Egyptian Avenue and the Terrace Catacombs that were completed in 1839. The Lebanon Circle was named for a Cedar that dated from the Ashurst Estate.

David Ramsay, the Company's landscape architect, laid out the grounds with formal planting, serpentine roads and gravel paths leading up to the burial area beneath St Michael's Church, a row of chestnuts divided the consecrated and unconsecrated ground, and there were parterres of flowers, pictureseque trees and clumps of evergreens. The Cemetery was consecrated on 20 May 1839 by the Bishop of London, apart from two acres in the north-east for dissenters' burials. The first burial took place on 23 May, and was that of Elizabeth Jackson. With its specimen trees and park-like setting it was soon popular as a place to walk and enjoy the views as well as fashionable as a burial place.

As a result of its success the London Cemetery Company purchased another 20 acre site in 1854 and this new area, known as the East Cemetery, was opened in 1856. The first burial here was on 12 June 1860. It is here that Karl Marx is buried. The two parts of the cemetery are divided by Swain's Lane with a passage beneath the road for conveyance of coffins from the chapel, which was itself extended in 1854-5 to accommodate a hydraulic lift for the tunnel. An outer half-circle of the Lebanon Circle was added c.1870. Nurseries and glasshouses supplied plants and the cemetery was well-kept into the C20th and at one time 28 gardeners were employed to maintain the formal landscape. Problems began as cremation became popular, labour was short and from WWII lack of revenue led to the woodland becoming much overgrown and the United Cemetery Company, which succeeded the London Cemetery Company, was unable to honour its guarantee to maintain the graves 'in perpetuity'. Much vandalism, including stories of devil-worship, took place in the early 1970s and the cemetery closed in 1975. The Friends of Highgate Cemetery, formed that year, worked to raise money to purchase the land, which was acquired in 1981 and transferred to the Custodian of Charities in 1989, and continue to look after the cemetery.

The cemetery is owned by a Cemetery Trust, with an advisory body with representation of national and local organisations including the National Trust, Highgate Society, RIBA, Victorian Society and LB Camden. Clearance work and restoration has been undertaken, with attention paid to its ecological interest. The chapels have been restored, that for the Dissenters' made into offices for the Manager, staff and Friends. Clearings of wild flower meadows have been created in the woodland and there are areas of herbaceous planting.

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.